Re: Issue 1489 - Does Dragging blur platofrm and author considerations? https://github.com/w3c/wcag/issues/1489

Hello MATF members,

I looked at the issue Mike raised and it poses really interesting questions
to our overall approach. It made me appreciate the approach of Silver and
its focus on functional needs and outcomes, instead of rigidly defining how
they are met.

Below is my initial take from only a mobile and touch devices perspective,
given that it is for a response from the MATF. Please send any feedback or
comments so we can discuss this with Mike and others on the thread, who can
then consider the wider application of the SC beyond mobile.

Have a great weekend!

Best,
Sukriti

*Response*:

*1. However, it is easy to demonstrate that mobile systems do not meet
scenario 1. For instance, the only touch way to scroll inside a mobile
touch browser is by flicking or dragging up and down. There is no simple
touch equivalent that I am aware of. Therefore, the only ways someone can
even view a web page on a mobile touch screen (whose content exceeds the
viewport) is to do actions the user in our hypothetical cannot achieve --
or to invoke a different modality, like keyboard operation.*

This is not entirely true on the latest OS versions. Apart from external
keyboards, a user can navigate through web pages and apps on both Android
and iOS through voice access. You can say “scroll down”, “swipe left” and
other phrases to navigate.

*2. Re: larger question about the current state of things on mobile touch
devices and workarounds*

Currently, if we just look at Android and iOS, that cover 99% of the mobile
operating systems market
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/272698/global-market-share-held-by-mobile-operating-systems-since-2009/#:~:text=Android%20maintained%20its%20position%20as,of%20the%20global%20market%20share.>,
assistive touch and voice access options are built in and provide
workarounds. We cannot not consider these solutions universal yet.

a) These features are part of relatively newer OS versions. Mobile is
notorious for the long tail adoption by users who are either not able to
(because of older models that will not upgrade), or have not upgraded to
the latest version of the OS will continue to struggle with the lack of
these features for a long time. Once there is over a certain threshold of
adoption (not sure what that threshold should be) of the latest OS versions
that have it as an option, it will reduce the burden for individual app
developers or mobile web developers from building their own solutions.
b) Not all assistive functionality is available on both platforms in the
same modes. For example, on Android, dragging is not one of the supported
gestures on the list of supported voice gestures
<https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151854>.

If an application is offered only on an OS that provides a workaround by
default, the author can rely on those and perhaps that should suffice as a
sufficient technique. It makes more sense for native apps than mobile web
to have this suffice as a technique.

Overall, we can only write SCs that address the present state of things,
instead of how defaults might look in the future. A similar argument might
be made for image labels where most browsers start assigning labels to
images with AI. When these defaults become common practice and universally
available and adopted, maybe we can drop the related SCs altogether.


On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 10:34 AM Sukriti Chadha <sukriti1408@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Of course, that is understood. The mobile task force however, is best
> equipped to focus on the mobile specific aspects, and share findings with
> the wider group.
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2021, 10:27 AM Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> On 08/01/2021 15:10, Sukriti Chadha wrote:
>>
>> > Thank you for sharing this. I just read the thread and it looks like we
>> > need some more research on use cases, as well as on what is currently
>> > available on mobile operating systems that will inform the response.
>>
>> As mentioned in the thread on github, I'll also reiterate that this is
>> not just a mobile/touch related issue. It applies to desktop/laptop
>> devices/operating systems with touch, and more generally to pointers
>> mouse interactions as well. In short, not necessarily a "mobile"
>> specific thing.
>>
>> P
>> --
>> Patrick H. Lauke
>>
>> https://www.splintered.co.uk/ | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
>> https://flickr.com/photos/redux/ | https://www.deviantart.com/redux
>> twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
>>
>>